Sacrificing the Untamed Lady Henrietta: A Historical Regency Romance Novel Page 16

  “Very well, then I shall have to take them into town myself,” Henrietta replied with fierce defiance. Her eyes challenged Mr. Chambers to try and stop her.

  “Oh no, My Lady, do not trouble yourself with such a strenuous endeavor. If you leave them with me, I will see to it that they find their way into the afternoon post.”

  She flashed him a saccharine smile. “I do not think so, Mr. Chambers. I shall see to this myself, fear not.” Without another word, she returned upstairs to fetch her coat before making her way out of the Old Bell. At the main entrance, Mr. Chambers looked as though he was about to step out and hold her back, but her furious expression evidently made him think twice.

  Instead, it was another figure that prompted her to halt in her tracks. Gerome emerged from the smoking parlor to the right-hand side of the main hallway, a concerned expression on his face.

  “Lady Peterborough, I did not expect you back so soon,” he said.

  “No, neither did I,” she admitted, relieved to have an ally against Mr. Chambers. “There was a minor incident at luncheon which forced us to return prematurely.”

  “An incident, My Lady?”

  “Yes, a trifling thing. Gunshots spooked the horse and I was thrown to the ground.”

  He gasped in horror. “Are you quite well? Shall I send for the physician?”

  “There is no need, Gerome, though I thank you for your kind offer.”

  “Surely, you should take to your chambers after such a scare?”

  Henrietta shrugged. “Perhaps, but I have some urgent business to attend to before I can attempt to rest.”

  “Anything I can do for you?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Are you venturing into town? Shall I accompany you? I am not an entirely appropriate chaperone, I realize, but it is better than no chaperone.”

  “I am a married woman, Gerome, I shall do quite well on my own,” she replied, with a soft laugh. “If the Lord Marquess returns before I do, please let him know that I have gone on some errands. He will understand your meaning.”

  He dipped his head in a bow. “Very well, My Lady. Please, do take care on your travels. And please, do tell his Lordship that I attempted to prevent you. I believe that is what he will prefer to hear.”

  “I shall, Gerome.” With a warm smile, she breezed past him and out of the door.

  Outside, a cold wind swept across the clifftop, snatching at her long hair as she struggled to keep her hat on top of her head. Several carriages waited at the side of the road. Walking up to the first one, she smiled at the driver.

  “To the Scarborough postal office, if you please,” she said.

  “Of course, My Lady.” He tipped his cap and helped her up into the carriage, before leaping onto the box. Henrietta sat back on the velveteen squabs and rested her head against the window as the carriage trundled away.

  “You will not get between me and my dream, Lord Marquess,” she mumbled to herself as the beautiful seascape spread out beyond the pane. How she adored the seaside. And it had all started out with such promise.

  As they headed into town, her mind drifted back to the way she had been thrown from the horse. A jolt in her ribs served as an additional reminder. In truth, she knew she ought to have stayed abed, as instructed, but she was not the type of woman to be told what to do. Her father had not succeeded, and neither would her husband. Not if she could help it.

  However, she couldn’t help but recall the grim thought that had failed to abandon her mind. Now, more than ever, she was certain that her accident had been anything but accidental.

  As it replayed in her head, she recounted how close the shots had been. They had not been the distant fire of hunters’ rifles. No, indeed, she and Ewan had not been near enough to the woodland for it to be hunters firing their weapons.

  Seth is responsible for this, I am sure of it. He hates me enough to see me injured in any number of despicable ways. But does he hate me enough to see me die at his hand?

  That was the one part that she was struggling to piece together. Surely, a dismissal from a household did not equal death as revenge. Then again, he had always been somewhat unhinged. Perhaps, he did have that level of darkness within him, though it had been buried deep all these years.

  Now, Henrietta had given him an excuse to release it. Well, two may play at such a game. If Ewan sought to entrap Mr. Booth into making a confession, there was no way that Henrietta was not going to be present. It was her life that had been threatened, and she would see him pay for his trespasses against her.

  Chapter 24

  “Lord Peterborough, My Lord tells me you wish to speak with me in private?” Seth said as he entered the drawing room. Lord Averson had made himself scarce, giving Ewan the opportunity he had requested.

  “Averson is correct.”

  “If this is in relation to our previous encounter, please allow me to apologize for my behavior towards your lady wife,” he said, in apparent earnest. “She and I share something of a tempestuous past.”

  Ewan smiled coldly. “So, I have heard. And yet, you neglected to mention this connection to Lord Averson when he employed you, did you not?”

  “I confess, I was deeply ashamed at having been cast aside in so callous a manner. I did not wish it to reflect badly upon me, for I had been a loyal and trustworthy servant to the Oliver family for countless years.” He paused, as though doubting whether he ought to continue. “Mr. Oliver sent me away without a reference, and as Lord Averson did not ask for one, I did not like to denigrate myself.”

  “So, you were deceitful?”

  “I was.”

  “And you have told the truth to Lord Averson?”

  Seth sighed. “I have not. Is that why you have come? Are you intending to reveal me to him?”

  “That remains to be seen, Mr. Booth.”

  He looked puzzled at Ewan’s reply. “If there is a chance that you may not, I should very much like to plead with you for silence. I am not without remorse for the actions that I have taken, but… you see, I have a family of my own. No wife, of course, as I often felt married to the Olivers. My job was my wife. But, I have an ageing mother and a sister who has suffered much in the past years. Without this position, they will be left destitute. I will not find another without some difficulty.”

  Ewan eyed him suspiciously. He could detect no hint of a lie in the servant’s words, but he had learned a long time ago that the least likely people were often the best at deception.

  “That does not excuse your behavior, Mr. Booth.”

  “No, I understand that. I only wish to plead for your compassion in this instance.”

  “The sort of compassion that you showed my wife?”

  Seth paled. “I was impulsive in my anger towards her, Lord Peterborough. The wound was still fresh when we encountered one another on the promenade. Seeing her came as quite a surprise and tore the wound asunder once again.”

  “Again, that does not excuse your behavior. She is your superior.”

  A hard glint shone in Seth’s eyes. “Yes, My Lord.” Evidently, he did not like her being called his superior one bit.

  For that split second, Seth’s imploring mask cracked slightly, revealing the darker shades of his character beneath. Indeed, in that moment, Ewan could well believe that this man was capable of unsavory deeds.

  “Tell me, where were you this afternoon?”

  The mask returned. “I was here, My Lord.”

  “And the household can vouch for you?”

  He paused. “I cannot say. I was undertaking personal duties from ten until two, which keeps me out of the way of most of the house.”

  How very convenient.

  “And you did not leave the house for any purpose?”

  “I departed at around eleven o’clock to undertake an errand for his Lordship, and I returned at just gone noon.”

  Ewan narrowed his eyes at the miscreant. That left an hour’s window in which Seth might have been able to arrange t
he incident in the woodland. It would not have been long enough for him to carry it out himself, but that did not matter. Seth could still be the mastermind, even if he had not pulled the trigger himself.

  “And where did this errand take you?”

  “To Fordham’s fabric shop,” he replied, without missing a beat. “I was to arrange a new waistcoat for his Lordship. After that, I went to the bakery to fetch a box of Lord Averson’s favorite custard tarts. Then, I dropped several letters at the postal office, before returning here.”

  “And all of this can be vouched for, can it?”

  “Yes, My Lord.” He glanced at Ewan. “Is something the matter? You seem to wish to interrogate me, and yet I am unaware of any crime I may have committed. If it solely to do with my behavior towards Miss Oliver—sorry, I mean Lady Peterborough—then you may have my sincerest apologies. I meant no disservice to you.”

  “Just to my wife?”

  “As I say, the wound of being dismissed so abruptly had yet to cease smarting. It is not an excuse, but it is the truth.”

  Ewan nodded slowly. “Then you may go.”

  “That is all you wished to speak to me about?”

  “Yes.”

  Seth dipped into a groveling bow. “And you will remain silent on the matter of my former dismissal?” His voice was sniveling, which irked Ewan immensely.

  “If I decide upon such a course of action, then yes.”

  “I must know, My Lord. My family is relying upon me.”

  Ewan narrowed his eyes. “You must await your fate, Mr. Booth. Now, you may leave, as I have requested.”

  He looked as though he was about to say something else, but a terse glance from Ewan prevented him from speaking further. Instead, he backed out of the room in a most peculiar, almost amusing manner.

  Clearly, the man was desperate. However, Ewan was uncertain of the motive behind his desperation—was it family, or was it something else altogether? If Mr. Booth lost his place here, he would no longer be close to Henrietta, or information about her, at any rate.

  You have not fooled me, Mr. Booth.

  A few minutes after Mr. Booth’s departure, Lord Averson stepped back into the room. He wore a perplexed frown.

  “Well?”

  Ewan shrugged. “There is something amiss about him, that is for certain. However, I would ask again that you keep him in your service until I can be sure of the reasoning behind his peculiarity.”

  “You don’t think that he—seriously, you cannot believe that Mr. Booth is responsible for what happened at the theater?”

  “You heard the report yourself. Someone pushed that block from the roof. Why not a man with a motive for vengeance?”

  “He is odd, no mistake, but I do not think him capable of such evil.”

  Ewan tapped his chin in thought. “Have you spoken to the household?”

  “They have vouched for Mr. Booth’s whereabouts, with the exception of a few hours.”

  “A few? Not just one?”

  Lord Averson shook his head. “Nobody saw him between the hours of eleven and almost two.”

  Now, that would be plenty of time for him to exact a little light revenge. However, Ewan could not be sure of how Mr. Booth would have discovered his lunchtime intentions. Was the man having him followed, perhaps? It seemed the most likely solution.

  “I am sorry to pay such a brief visit to you, Averson, but there are several things I must attend to with direct immediacy. Might we see one another again before your departure?”

  “Certainly, my good man. How would you and your wife like to dine with us on Friday?”

  “Splendid idea.”

  Lord Averson smiled, his relief clear as day. “Excellent, then I shall send word to the Old Bell once we have the arrangements.”

  “Whilst I am gone, might you keep an eye on Mr. Booth? I should like to know what he is up to.”

  “Of course, Ewan. Although, I really do hope your suspicions are incorrect.”

  “Either way, having him surveilled is a sure way to maintain his innocence or capture him in the act of something underhand.”

  * * *

  Henrietta arrived at the front door of the Averson residence, just as Ewan was leaving. She had successfully deposited her letters at the postal office, with the correct addresses and postage upon them this time, and had hurried straight here.

  “My Lady, what on earth—” Ewan froze on the steps as he looked at her. She almost delighted in his displeasure, for she felt he deserved to feel a little uncomfortable after the way he had spoken to her.

  “I thought I might join you after all, for I found myself feeling greatly refreshed,” she replied coquettishly, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Naturally, your guard hound attempted to prevent me. Both of them, in fact.”

  He tilted his head in confusion.

  “Mr. Chambers and Gerome,” she enlightened him. “Apparently, you’d asked to put a hold on all of my outgoing letters. Curious, is it not? Here I was, believing that you had a fragment of faith in me and my dreams.”

  “We have been over this,” he replied darkly. “Now is not the time to argue. You do not know who may be watching us.” He gestured towards the house, making it clear who he meant.

  “Then why don’t we both get back into the carriage and discuss it on the way back. I imagine I am too late for your rendezvous with Mr. Booth?”

  “You are, which is why I told you to remain in your rooms until I returned. You are of no use here, for he would not have said a word with you in his presence.”

  Henrietta gave a wry smile. “So, the old devil still despises me?”

  “It would appear so.”

  “Might I know what he has said about me?”

  “Get back in the carriage,” he ordered. “I will tell you of it on the way into town.”

  It was Henrietta’s turn to frown. “Into town?”

  “Yes, there is some business I must attend to, regarding our friend here.”

  “And I may accompany you?”

  Ewan sighed. “Well, as you seem incapable of following any sort of instruction, I suppose you will have to.”

  “Might I have an apology whilst we discuss what has happened?”

  “For what?”

  “For your attempt to censor me.”

  “I did it for your own good, Henrietta.”

  She snorted in derision. “Is that so?”

  “You may find this difficult to believe, being as stubborn as you are, but I would not see you wounded in any way. Nor would I see you ridiculed by the men who run those establishments,” he said, his tone softening. “I have come to care too much to see that happen to you. Although, it has not affected my ability to see your potential. I have no doubt that, one of these days, you will succeed where no lady has before. We may not have known each other all that long, but that is one thing I may be certain of—your fierce determination.”

  Henrietta looked at him with thoughtful eyes, her anger towards him dissipating slightly. After all, she had written her own name on those letters because of him. Now, if she was accepted, she would be accepted because of who she was, not who she was pretending to be.

  “And why are we going into town?”

  “I have some leads to follow, regarding your old friend Mr. Booth.”

  “Leads?”

  “Yes. He was missing earlier today, and I plan to discover what he was really doing in that time.”

  Henrietta blanched. “So, you believe the same thing I do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That Mr. Booth was the one who spooked the horse. That today’s accident was an intentional attack upon my life.”

  He paused for a moment. “I did not want to worry you, Henrietta… but yes, I believe that to be the case.”

  “Then we must discover this rogue’s true intentions before he attempts it again,” she said firmly. For, deep in the back of her mind, she knew it would not be long before another attempt was made. Vengeance, on
ce begun, could not be halted until one side had fallen.

  Chapter 25

  Henrietta and Ewan visited Fordham’s fabric shop first, which was set back from the main promenade that bordered the stormy sea beyond. A bell tinkled as they entered the dimly-lit shop. Behind a counter, an older man raised his head in curiosity, a polite smile turning up the corners of his lips as the couple stepped further in.